TT No. 308: Rubstake-Rubber Wood for Detecting Subterranean Termites on Peat Soil

Termite infestation in oil palm, especially in peat soil, has become a serious problem due to rapid expansion of the industry. Termites were first been reported as an occasional pest on mineral soils. Later, they were documented as a major pest to oil palm on peat (Zulkefli et al., 2000). Many termite species inhabit peat […]

TT No. 307: Fertilizer Management for Immature Oil Palm Planted on Inland Terraced Soil

With the current labour shortage, to reduce the rounds of fertilizer application, subsoil placement (burying) has attracted much interest, especially in remote areas and on undulating terrain. This is mainly due to the belief that burying the fertilizer is as effective as broadcasting it with reduced run-off losses. Foster and Goh (1975) recommended that fertilizers […]

TT No. 306: Markers to Predict Skin Colour of Oil Palm Fruit

With the current labour shortage in the Malaysian plantation sector, the time spent on collection of loose fruits can have serious repercussions on productivity in the oil palm industry. In fact, as a result of labour shortage, one of the areas most neglected in harvesting is loose fruit collection (Hoong and Donough, 1998) which has […]

TT No. 305: Microsatellite Probes for Fingerprinting of Oil Palm Clones

Vegetative propagation of the oil palm by tissue culture was first described in the 1970s. Since then, the commercial advantage of tissue culture materials over seedlings has been well established. The initial problems or setbacks associated with oil palm tissue culture (for example, flowering abnormalities) have also been minimized by adopting low phytohormone protocols and […]

TT No. 304: Simple Impeller with Fast Transfer Technique (SLIM-FaTT) in Liquid Culture System

The liquid culture system has been established in laboratories and MPOB since 1999 (Tarmizi et al., 2003). Various technologies have been developed to further improve the system (Tarmizi and Zaiton, 2005). The two-in-one MPOB Simple Impeller (2-in- 1 MoSLIM) was developed as a new process to provide simultaneous aeration and agitation (two-in-one) for establishment, maintenance […]